Study: Pediatric Patients With Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis Receive Fewer Systemic Therapies
Key Takeaways
A US real-world survey of 1,316 patients found that pediatric patients with plaque psoriasis had significantly less severe disease than adults.
Children with moderate-to-severe psoriasis received fewer systemic therapies than adults with comparable disease severity.
Treatment patterns differed significantly by age, with topical therapies and phototherapy more common in children and systemic agents and biologics more common in adults.
A real-world US survey found significant differences in plaque psoriasis severity and treatment patterns between pediatric and adult patients, with children receiving fewer systemic therapies than adults even among those with moderate-to-severe disease.
The findings, published in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment, were based on physician-reported data collected through the Adelphi Real World Psoriasis Disease Specific Programme between August 2018 and April 2020.
Researchers analyzed data from 153 physicians covering 1,316 patients with psoriasis (690 children aged 4 to 17 years and 626 adults aged 18 years or older). The cross-sectional study focused on differences in disease severity, remission status, affected body surface area, and treatment utilization.
Psoriasis Severity and Treatment Patterns Differ by Age
The data showed higher remission rates among pediatric patients compared with adults (P < 0.001). Children also had a lower mean percentage of affected body surface area (P < 0.001), while overall disease severity was rated significantly higher among adults (P < 0.001).
Treatment utilization differed significantly between the groups (all P < 0.001). Topical therapies and phototherapy were more frequently used among pediatric patients, whereas conventional systemic medications and biologic therapies were more common among adults throughout their treatment histories.
Notably, among patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, children received fewer systemic therapies than adults. The findings document age-related differences in treatment utilization despite the presence of more substantial disease in both populations.
The study's cross-sectional design limits causal interpretation. Additionally, treatment data were collected before newer biologic therapies received pediatric approvals, potentially limiting the applicability of these findings to current prescribing patterns.
"Overall, pediatric patients had significantly less severe disease than adults, but moderate/severe pediatric patients received fewer systemic therapies than in the adult moderate/severe cohort," the authors concluded. "Further research is needed to understand the use and effectiveness of biologics in the pediatric population, given the approval of newer biologics for pediatric use since the time of the survey."
Source
Swanson EL, et al. J Dermatolog Treat. 2026. Doi:10.1080/09546634.2026.2756788